Greetings! In Psalm 34:8, the psalmist says:
“Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”

Sometimes I like to check out the one-star reviews on Amazon when I’m buying a book or product. Recently, I purchased Your Designed Body by Steve Laufmann and Howard Glicksman. Out of curiosity, I clicked on the one-star reviews. As expected, they were negative, but something more telling quickly became apparent: none of the one-star reviewers had actually purchased the book. None mentioned having read it.

“Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.”

1 Timothy 4:7

 Football coach Tom Landry is often quoted as saying that the task of a coach is to help people do what they would rather avoid in order to become what they ultimately hope to be. The same truth applies to the Christian life. Following Christ means intentionally practicing habits that do not always come naturally, such as prayer, Scripture, worship, and acts of service, so that over time we are shaped into lives marked by godliness. As Scripture reminds us, we are to discipline ourselves for godliness (1 Timothy 4:7).

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
 Galatians 5:22–23

She burst out of the Chestnut Quick Mart, hurling expletives into the universe, most of them landing squarely on the clerk she had just confronted. I stood beside my car, genuinely stunned. Others glanced her way as she smacked the gas pump, her car door, and anything else within reach. A minute earlier, I had been at that same counter, chatting with the cashier about how to join their rewards club. Then she flew in, a young woman who, by outward appearances, looked put together, but carried a storm cloud of hostility that filled the room.

 “‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’).”
Matthew 1:23  

There is perhaps no more disparaging feeling than the feeling of loneliness—the feeling of being alone. I’m not talking about being bored or simply missing those we love; that happens to all of us now and then and can usually be eased by a phone call or a movie. The loneliness I’m referring to is the aching lack of understanding and commitment surrounding us and supporting us.